


kill the headlights and put it in neutral

by robmit



Category: Victorious (TV)
Genre: F/M, Intense Handholding, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:54:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27076828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/robmit/pseuds/robmit
Summary: Beck, Jade, and Robbie drive to school.
Relationships: Beck Oliver/Jade West, Beck Oliver/Robbie Shapiro, Beck Oliver/Robbie Shapiro/Jade West
Comments: 3
Kudos: 31





	kill the headlights and put it in neutral

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know how cars work, much less 2004 Honda Civics. This is concerning, considering that I am currently learning how to drive. Anyway.....

The car- a 2004 Honda Civic, on loan from some distant cousin who was out of town for a few weeks- had a strange background hum that seemed to be indicative of some small internal problem, but other than that it ran pretty well. Jade and Robbie had already hitched a ride a couple times in it, and they had to admit that it was a whole lot nicer than riding in Beck's trailer (the bar, you see, wasn't all that high). 

There was one thing that always bugged the two of them about driving with anyone, but especially Beck, and that was music. You can probably imagine what Jade liked to listen to, and Robbie had recently developed a penchant for late-1950s Danish jazz quartets. This wouldn't usually pose a problem. When they drove with anyone else, including each other, they could just (begrudgingly) switch between CDs and radio stations to their hearts' content, taking turns to be the one choosing the soundtrack. Beck, on the other hand, ran a tighter ship.

"It is MY car, and I will choose the music." Beck held the door open for his girlfriend, who gave him a defiant stare. "Oh, come on, Jade, the ride to school's only a few minutes. Besides, I think you'll like this new music." 

"FIRST OF ALL, it's your cousin's car. And I can't imagine that anything you would choose to play would compare to The Scissoring's soundtrack." 

"Hey. Jade." He leaned in towards her, and after a moment she pecked him on the cheek. "We can watch The Scissoring again when I come over tonight, alright? Just let me have this one." She shrugged and sat down in the car, staring expectantly at the slot where the songs were displayed. "Alright, just wait a minute. We've got to wait until we pick up Robbie... that's when the fun really begins."

Define fun, she thought. Because listening to a boy insult himself through a ventriloquist dummy for a solid ten minutes wasn't exactly how she'd conceptualize that. 

Beck stuck the keys in the ignition and drummed his hands on the steering wheel. He put the car in reverse, head turned to the back. She loved to watch him concentrate. He was so good at getting into things with all of his energy, and it was mesmerizing. Sometimes she'd ask him to come over and rehearse his lines for whatever project he was currently working on just so she could see him in that light- the little upturn in his eyebrows when he was reading a particularly difficult line he didn't want to get wrong, the hand gestures that flowed so easily out of him when he was in acting mode, even just the smile he'd give her once the lines were over and she was assuring him that he'd get the part. Her boyfriend gave his all to the things he cared about, and somehow, driving was no different.

It was just so... cute? Cute wasn't a word she liked to use. "Hot" was an even worse one. Maybe just... enjoyable. Vaguely interesting. There you go- that encapsulated the exact kind of bored approval she liked to project. Even when they were alone, like now, it was difficult for her to be completely vulnerable about how much she liked him. Hell, they had been dating for almost a year now and she still felt weird about saying that she loved him. It just wasn't her style. But sitting here, getting to silently observe, that was much better.

"You're quiet today, huh?"

She had to laugh at how bad his timing was. "I'm just thinking." 

"What?" The energy in the car suddenly got a bit more serious, and he turned to face her. "Thinking about what? Us? You're not-"

"Oh my god, Beck, I don't want to break up with you. Jesus, you need to use your brain sometimes. I WAS thinking about us, though, but in a good way."

"What does that even mean?" He said it as if the implication that his girlfriend was happy being in a relationship with him was a very confusing one, which was a little bit annoying but a whole lot more endearing. She didn't really feel like coming up with an adequate response for him, choosing instead to observe the deft little moves his hands made on the steering wheel as he turned into Robbie's driveway. He came to a stop, put the car in park, and stared at her so intently that she thought she just had to say something, so she let her mind just cycle back to the last coherent thought she'd had.

"You've got nice hands, has anyone ever told you that?" The statement seemed embarrassing as soon as it left her mouth, but he smiled earnestly at it, taking his right hand and placing it over hers. Jade was no stranger to PDA by any means, but little tender things like this one always made her blush, and blushing wasn't a feeling she was fond of. The vulnerability she was showing occurred to her all of a sudden, and she was about to take her hand away when she thought better of it, choosing instead to interlock her fingers in his and twist them around like some sort of remix of a handshake that a fifth grader would make up in order to impress their crush. "No, seriously. Look at this. They fit so well together in mine." She couldn't believe herself. Whatever lovesick ten year old had currently taken charge of her brain was leading her in unexpected and... kind of enjoyable directions. 

Someone was yelling outside the car, and slapping his hand against the window. Oh yeah, Robbie. That was something she had failed to consider. Not letting go of Beck, she rolled down the window. "What do you want?"

"I would like to get INTO THE CAR, if that's not too much trouble for you two?" 

"Sorry Robbie, give me a minute-" Beck fumbled around for his keys, and suddenly his attention was off Jade and back into the dull roar of everyday, non-hand-holdy life. How boring, Jade thought as Robbie took his seat in the back. 

"I don't want to hear a single word from that puppet today. NOT in the mood." 

"Oh, don't worry, Rex is" - he patted his backpack, which did seem oddly full - "in here. And I told you how he feels about being called a puppet." 

The car started up again and suddenly Beck seemed to have a flash of genius. "Oh. Yes. Yesssssss. Jade, would you be a dear and press play on the CD? It's already in there, just that little triangle to the left-"

"...I know how to work a CD player, thank you very much. Okay, what is this?" She pressed play, completely ready to hate whatever it was that came out of the speakers. Robbie leaned forward so that his head was almost parallel with the people in the front, eager to hear whatever new discovery Beck was about to push upon them. 

"This," he said, "is Beck." 

"You make MUSIC?" Robbie was dumbfounded. 

"No, you buffoon, and if he did I think it would be a whole lot better than this. He's playing Beck, as in the singer-songwriter known for his 1994 hit "Loser." 

Beck allowed himself just a small chuckle at the expense of his passengers. "If you aren't into 90s alternative singer-songwriter classics, then I don't know if I want to be considered your friends." 

The rest of the ride consisted of a whole lot of... interesting background vocals, courtesy of the driver. Robbie had to admit that Beck's voice was better than he had ever realized, although it didn't quite fit the vibe of the music he was singing along with. Also, it was just REALLY confusing that Beck was listening to Beck, okay? Was no one else going to acknowledge that? He wished that he could get Rex out and ask his opinion, but he decided to respect the wishes of his fellow passengers. 

They pulled into the school parking lot and Jade took her seatbelt off before the car had even stopped. "Oh my god, I just remembered that Sikowitz asked me to talk to him after school. APPARENTLY, my idea for the spring play is a little bit too 'violent' and needs to be 'severely rewritten'." 

"Hey, slow down. I'm sure it'll be okay." Once again, he put his hand on hers, and she felt a little bit less stressed. Of course it would be okay- Sikowitz had confidence in her writing, as he should, and maybe he'd have some good ideas on how to change it so that the principle wouldn't expel her for trying to perform it. Besides, she could probably figure out how to blackmail him somehow if anything went wrong. 

"Meet me by my locker as soon as you can, alright?" She gave his hand a final squeeze and walked out of the car towards the entrance of Hollywood Arts. Now, it was just Robbie and Beck.

"I'm telling you, Robbie, the way to a girl's heart is through music. Did you see how much she liked that song?" 

"She doesn't like the song, Beck. She looked as if she wanted to throw up the entire time. She likes you, and that's enough to make her pretend that she doesn't think your taste in music is absolutely abhorrent." 

"It is NOT!"

"I'm not saying I think that. In fact, I wouldn't mind if you played me the rest of that album sometime."

"Sometime? There's twenty minutes before school starts, and we all know Sikowitz will be late for class anyway. How about we drive around the block a bit and I can play you more of my namesake's excellent tunes?" 

(Robbie wasn't sure if Beck had actually been named after, uh, the other Beck, but he wouldn't put it past the Olivers, and it did sort of make sense.) "Can I get in the front?" 

"Go for it." 

Instead of exiting the car like a normal human being and then re-entering through the front passenger door, Robbie opted for an... alternative method, usually employed by small children, which consisted of attempting to wedge his entire body through the space between the two front seats. It probably would have worked, except that the Honda Civic was not a very large car and he got stuck halfway through. His head, shoulders and probably about 2/3 of his torso were inches away from Beck. 

"Hmmmmmmm. I don't know if that's going to work, Robbie. Need a hand?" 

"Uh. Yeah- hold on, I think I got it." Trying to channel the energy of an eel, he slid a few more inches of his torso through the car opening and... well, that didn't work in quite the intended way, and instead his head was practically laid on Beck's lap.

Beck, he thought, was almost the perfect person to be in this situation with, because he felt somehow completely certain that he would be able to solve whatever predicament they had gotten themselves into. Beck, he thought, had a funny way of making people staring up at him feel almost seasick, but not in a bad way? More like looking off the edge of a high hill and seeing your hometown from a completely different viewpoint. Beck, he thought, had lovely brown eyes from this angle. And he smelled good. 

(Shit! Oh god! Oh lord! This was most certainly not a time for a crisis like this! Robbie could only imagine what Rex would say if he could hear his thoughts right now [and Robbie was only like 30% sure that he couldn't. Not the greatest odds.] Or if Jade was to suddenly turn up and see Robbie lying on her boyfriend's lap, being tenderly held by his strong arm- ohhhh, my god. He really needed to get up right now or he was certain he was going to fall in love with Beck.) 

"Hey, man, you look kind of... concerned? Also, you're on my lap." Beck wasn't the most observant when it came to people having crises about him, perhaps. It was a little bit cute. 

"Yeah- could you-" Robbie motioned around him, pointlessly so, because he didn't know how to get up without getting even closer to Beck's face, which would definitely not be good for whatever this feeling was. He decided that channeling the eel once again was his only option, and slowly but surely he hoisted himself through the car opening until he was lying horizontally on the front seat of the car. "Uh... if you open your door, I think I could... slide out?"

"You're not very good at this, huh?" Robbie wasn't sure whether 'this' was exiting cars or disguising his emotions, but both were true. Beck reached underneath Robbie's head and propped it up, pushing him over to the side so that he was in a position to sit normally in his own seat. FINALLY. "Oh. Thanks." 

"Don't leave yet- we've still got 15 minutes before the bell rings. Are you going to listen to these Beck songs or not?" 

That had really, really not been at the top of Robbie's mind for the last few minutes, but he managed a nod and put his seatbelt back on as his friend started the car up again. He could save all of his rather confusing emotions for later- for now, everything was going to be okay.


End file.
